Singing a song of Camilo The Magician

Camilo the Magician performs in Abracadabra at Vancouver's York Theatre. Photo by Andrew Gerard.

While the three share an obvious love for magic, there is at least one thing that sets Camilo Dominguez (aka Camilo the Magician) apart from David Copperfield and David Blaine. Dominguez is the only one to have a pop song written about him.

Camilo
I need to see where you make that card go
‘Cus I got some questions about the world I know
And about the difference between real and show
Camilo

– Lyrics from Said The Whale’s Camilo (The Magician)

A single from Vancouver indie rock band Said the Whale’s Islands Disappear album, “Camilo (The Magician)” came from a real-life interaction between band members and the Vancouver-based magician in 2009.

As the band explains in a Facebook post: “Our song “Camilo (The Magician)” is about a real dude who used to come to our house parties and impress/steal all the girls with his incredible card tricks.”

Living in Victoria at the time, Dominguez found himself visiting his brother in Vancouver one weekend, where the two ended up at a house party.

“I always bring a deck of cards with me and I ended up performing some magic at the party,” recalls Dominguez.

Little did Dominguez know at the time, part of the intimate audience were Ben Worcester and Tyler Bancroft, two of Said the Whale’s original members.

“I didn’t know who they were,” confesses Dominguez. “When I moved to Vancouver the following year my brother told me there was a band called Said the Whale and they were going to sing a song about me.”

What Dominguez originally thought would be a small gathering turned out to be a rather large concert at the Commodore.

Dominguez has since played the song in each of his shows, and it will no doubt make an appearance at Abracadabra, his new show set to play Vancouver’s York Theatre later this month.

And while it may be difficult to believe a magician with a pop song written about them would be interested in a traditional magic show, that is exactly what Dominguez has planned with Abracadabra.

“Abracadabra is the number one word people think about when they think of magic,” says Dominguez of his choice of show title. “It is the meaning of magic in one word.”

A year in the making, Dominguez is embracing the old-school magic show, complete with top hat and tails.

“I am usually quite laid back in my shows, but this will be a really classic magic show with all the magic tricks we grew up with,” he explains.

Abracadabra plays the York Theatre (639 Commercial Dr, Vancouver) on March 31 and April 1, 7 & 8. Visit http://camilothemagician.com for tickets and information.